September 2009 Archives

After only two pathetically rated episodes, The Beautiful Life: TBL has the distinction of being the first show cancelled of the 2009/2010 television season.  Sorry Mischa.  You heard it here first... last week.

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

So, this morning, I said that Leno's 4.5/8 share was a disaster for NBC and they should start to think about living in a post-Leno world. 

But this morning I was made aware of a statement by John Ferriter (head of WME's Non-Scripted Department) at the Producers Caucus Panel that all Jay Leno needed to get was a 1.5 share (A18-49) in order to make NBC $300 million. 

WHAT THE FUCK?!

Now by "make" I don't know if he means revenue (which doesn't make it a crazy statement) or profit (which makes it a crazy statement).  Either way - it's bullshit and I don't believe it. 

If this was true, why wouldn't every network do it?  Why wouldn't Jeff Zucker be screaming it from the rooftops to Wall Street?  Gossip Girl gets a 1.5 rating and The CW doesn't make shit.  I know... I know... it's not apples-to-apples - but it's still bullshit.

I started to wonder why John Ferriter would take such a bold stand and why does he really care?  Then I found the above picture of Mr. Ferriter with my old friend Ben Silverman in Vegas and it all made sense.  Seems to me Mr. Ferriter is just defending his friends' crazy business model.  Ben has dated quite a few crazy business models in the past - but none so bold and insane as the one that makes $300 million for 1.5 rating.  Now that's one hot model!

Why would NBC let such a genius get away?

So, according to my math, a 4.5/8 share should "make" NBC around $900 million. 

Jesus Christ!  The Broadcast Network business is a great business!

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

Sorry, Jay.  The competition is only going to get tougher (just wait until you hit first-run episodes of those Thursday night dramas).

I hate for you to fail.  You're such a likable guy.  But I LOVE that Ben Silverman is failing (failing upwards, I suppose, but still failing!).

It's a real conundrum.

Good luck tonight against CSI: NY on CBS and Eastwick on ABC.  Okay, you might do fine against Eastwick - maybe even a 4.7/9 share!  Whoopee!

It may be time to get OctoMom and Kate Gosselin in some sort of a wresting match - because only stunts like that can help you now.

[Note to Angela Bromstad and Paul Telegdy at NBC:  You may want to contact Dick Wolf to get some more Law & Order iterations going.  Also, call Peter Roth over at Warner Bros. to see how long it might take to rebuild the ER set.]

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

It simply blows Apple's Mac vs. PC ads out of the water.  Jack In The Box is Yahoo!'s bitch!

There... that should get a few Yahoo! executives clicking on this entry.

It's actually a pretty terrible and underwhelming campaign and won't do anything to help the brand. 

On the plus side, it certainly won't hurt to throw $100 million at the Yahoo! brand.  It does need updating.  But a more creative and less generic middle-of-the-road approach would have been the way to go.

It's basically the Jay Leno of ad campaigns.  Nice and safe.  Your children will be okay if left alone with the new Yahoo! campaign. 

You can sit and drink lemonade on the front porch with the new Yahoo! campaign.  It's a Nicolas Sparks novel on a rainy day.  It don't hurt nobody.

Some companies would have gone for a "lock-up your children because HERE COMES THE  YAHOO! CAMPAIGN TO TAKE AWAY YOUR  DAUGHTER ON A MOTORCYCLE" type of approach.  Edgy and exciting. 

Maybe in today's economy, nice and safe is the way to go.  We'll find out soon enough.  Microsoft was forced to dump a few crappy ad campaigns in the past - hopefully, if it doesn't work out, Yahoo! will pull the trigger quickly and bring on the motorcycle gangs.

I wish Carol Bartz luck... I'm a big fan.  So is my boss, Khan Manka, Jr.

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

Frankly, no one gives a shit anymore.  Last night's show was painful. 

A tour of the set?  Seriously?  Matthew Weiner, creator of Mad Men, is unable to give an acceptance speech for winning Best Drama because there was a five minute TOUR OF THE SET at the beginning of the show?   "Where we will all be spending the next three plus hours!"

The opening number from the Academy Awards winning for Best Musical Number?  Best Musical Number? 

That painfully long Family Guy bit with the baby killing the dog (full disclosure - I'm a Simpson's girl and think Family Guy sucks so I probably wouldn't have liked even if it were short and funny). 

There there was bit-after-painful-bit about the demise of television.  Television, the way it was in 1979 is dead - TELEVISION ISN'T DEAD!  What else are we supposed to do to pass the time on this miserable planet?  We like the internet, we like television, we like movies, we like going out to dinner, we like talking on the phone, we like working out, we like going to the park with our kids, we like going to Disneyland... just because we spend a few hours less watching TV doesn't make it the end of the world!

I know there is a lot of insecurity in this town and a very strong need to give each other awards.  But would the programming change if there wasn't Emmy Awards?  Are the actors from NCIS: Los Angeles relevant in any way?  Was an appearance by the Gossip Girls a way to reach out to 15 year olds?  As an experiment, Television Academy, why don't you put next year's awards on the Disney Channel and see how many young girls you get to watch... But that would never happen because the Emmys are much too prestigious for that.

I know the old white executives want it to be 1979 again when the television audience apparently actually cared if M*A*S*H would win or lose - but those days are gone.

It's over.  Kill it already.  Every year it sucks and every year we watch.  Over half that crowd (i.e., the late night comedy show writers), wanted to be watching the Giants/Cowboys game on NBC.  Myself included.

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

With a 1.1/2 rating for its PREMIERE, this show is done.

Sorry Dawn.  One out of three ain't terrible.  If it weren't for The Vampire Diaries... well, you know the rest.

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

Holy shit!  I can't believe it.  It's like a dagger right into the breast!

My new employer (Khan Manka, Jr.) PLAYED TENNIS YESTERDAY with my old boss (the asshole Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers). 

I feel so dirty.  I feel so ashamed. 

What the fuck, Khan!  He's an old friend?!?!?! 

I may have to rethink my future here at Manka Bros.

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

Tonight is either beginning of the end of NBC or the beginning of a new television business model.  I'm betting BIG on the former. 

It will be interesting to follow The Jay Leno Show's ratings for about a week and then the media will become bored reporting that Jay's numbers were, once again, 5.3 with a 7 share (2.3 / 4 18-49).  But at least for tonight, it's interesting.

All I can say is - Good Luck, Jay.  You'll still be a rich and successful man even though you are now the face of dying network.  (In truth, broadcast networks are already dead... but I digress.)

My predictions on how the NBC promotions department will spin tomorrow's ratings:

• Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

• Because of the low production costs, we don't need home run ratings to make a big profit.

• Considering Jay was opposite the premiere of Monday Night Football, he did very well.

• Obviously, we were hoping for a much bigger number, but we firmly believe that the audience will grow once kids have adjusted to returning to school.

• Even though it was National Cream Filled Donut Day, we posted very strong numbers.

• If we would have known this was the date that Grace Kelly died in a car crash (in 1982), we probably would have waited to premiere Jay's show.

• There may have been some confusion by those people who haven't adapted to the Gregorian calendar.

Once again, good luck Jay.  You're in a no win situation.

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

Dear Nikki,

Your new business strategy will fail.  This morning, a new (unremarkable) web design was revealed along with a new address (Deadline.com) and it is a disappointment.  A disappointment to all us bomb throwers out there who are just trying to make a buck with salacious stories about other people's lives. 

I say it's a disappointment because DHD is a straight-out-of-bed must read for nearly everyone in the business of media.  You should resist the urge to turn it into something more than it is. 

I don't understand why people in this industry find it difficult to be content with success. 

Nikki, you had an amazing one woman operation (terrible graphics and all - but it worked) with great inside sources, timely scoops and the freedom to say whatever the fuck you wanted. 

That's all going to change now. 

You are attempting to become a corporation - a media conglomerate, if you will.  You seem to fancy yourself one of those top media executives whose career you could bring down with one click of the "Publish" button.  I fear those days are ending. 

I believed you when you said nothing would change after being bought by Mail.com Media Corporation (I would have put a link of that last sentence to the blog you wrote after being bought - but it appears to be gone!  See what I mean?). 

Believe me, I'm not against buyouts.  Manka Bros. doesn't pay me shit and we all need capital to run a successful business.  But now you're opening offices (OK, hiring a couple bloggers in pajamas) in several other world cities under the "Deadline" brand.  Plus, you talk about technical people and designers.  Please.  Can you look at the numbers and tell me that your free cash flow margin isn't decreasing?

Do you seriously believe you'll find other "Nikki Finke's" in London, Hong Kong, Syndey, et al?   What the fuck scoops are you going to get in Mumbai?  There are plenty of great media muckrakers in that country.  They don't need you.  There is only one Nikki Finke and paying other people to digg up fresh scandals in international territories isn't going to work. 

I'm going to miss the freshness, the immediacy and especially that feeling that we're getting real inside dope. 

But it's not too late to change!  Stay small and profitable.  Don't expand and be forced out of business in a year.  Or worse, in a year, don't attempt to go back to your old self in a pathetic display of "Well, I tried!"

Jill Kennedy, OnMedea